Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER AUGUST 2018 FEATURES 21 HR METRICS Making minds (and metrics) matter Ways to gauge the success of your workplace mental health strategy By Paula Allan and Sevaun Palvetzian Y ou've worked for months, consulted with employ- ees, and your organiza- tion's mental health strategy is finally in place. Now what? How do you mea- sure the success of that strategy? When their workplace culture supports mental health and well- being, employees will rate their workplace more favourably on various dimensions of psycho- logical health and safety, and also report lower personal stress, less absenteeism, less presenteeism, higher engagement and lower workplace stigma, according to a 2015 survey of Canadian workers by Morneau Shepell. But organizations all follow a different path to success. In a recent webinar hosted by CivicAction's MindsMatter ini- tiative and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Manulife and Bryson Insurance shared what employers should consider when measuring the impact of a work- place mental health strategy. Metrics menu For many employers, the success of a mental health strategy and programs relies on the people they serve. Tracking employee participation rates and gaining feedback is a key method to see what is resonating with teams. Manulife gained key insights through its group benefits costs — especially for disability, para- medical and drug costs. Mental illness accounts for 70 per cent of disability claims, according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada. It's also important to take the time to know how employees are doing — especially those who are struggling. Larger organizations with adequate resources may be able to track employees' health risk levels in a more quantifiable way, but smaller organizations shouldn't forget that a simple con- versation is equally as effective. "Good metrics can do two things for your mental health strategy: Provide a baseline with which to measure improvement and inform meaningful action. Start with the data you are al- ready collecting and build on it over time. Remember, words tell as much about the needs of your employees as numbers do," says Jordan Friesen, national director of workplace mental health at the Canadian Mental Health Associa- tion in Winnipeg. Solicit feedback In developing a mental health strategy, monitoring employee engagement through surveys, fo- cus groups and other methods can help an employer be nimble and responsive to any changing needs. It will also create opportunities for employees to buy into workplace mental health and wellness. Smaller organizations may find setting up a feedback URL or email is more efficient. Bryson In- surance did exactly this and devel- oped an online suggestion box to gather feedback, respond to inqui- ries, and track implementation. Exchanging experiences and strategies with fellow employers is another way to ensure your strat- egy evolves. Mental health should be everyone's priority, so it's about making an effort to be a thought leader in this space. "When we are open to listening from a space of contribution, we can often hear what's really be- ing communicated. Everyone in our Bryson family contributes to creating our culture. It only makes sense then that we make it as easy as possible to provide feedback," says Kyle Paterson, director of cul- ture and business development at Bryson Insurance in Whitby, Ont. Stick with it When measuring success, re- member: Patience is a virtue. ere will be some early indi- cators from feedback on wellness initiatives which will provide guidance. But any measurement against employee health, disability claims or benefits costs may take years to show a full trend. For example, after one year of increasing employees' mental health benefit to $10,000 per year, Manulife noted some improve- ments but recognized that it most likely will take a few years to fully see the return on investment. Whatever employers decide to do, they should stick with it until they can make an informed next step. All organizations will have different approaches to tackling the issue of workplace mental health — and that's a good thing. What works for one organization may not work for another. What's important is they con- tinue to make employees' men- tal health and well-being a top priority. Paula Allen is vice-president of re- search and integrative solutions at Morneau Shepell and co-chair of CivicAction's Mental Health in the Workplace Champions Council. Sevaun Palvetzian is CEO of Civic- Action. For more information, visit www.civicaction.ca/mindsmatter. Credit: GrAI (Shutterstock)

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